Key Biscayne is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. While named a 'key', it is not geologically part of the Florida Keys, but a barrier island composed of sand eroded from the Appalachian Mountains and carried there. When Hurricane Andrew stripped part of the island in 1992, archeologists found extensive evidence of a large Tequesta community that had lived there up to 2,000 years ago. What is the island's history with regard to slavery?More...

In 2007, a potential tragedy was averted in London when two car bombs were disabled before they could be detonated in a busy district of the city. The cars and devices were recovered intact for forensic examination and both were found to contain gasoline canisters, nails, and a mobile phone-based trigger. The next day, two men drove a car laden with propane into a terminal at Glasgow International Airport and set it ablaze. The surviving conspirator was jailed for both incidents. Who was he?More...

Mahalanobis was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure he used in his pioneering studies in anthropometry—the study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute and contributed to the design of large scale sample surveys. His survey methods have been used to study things like tea-drinking habits, crop acreage, and what else?More...

Quotation of the Day

I cannot express it: but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you.

Central City Opera Festival is a festival of opera, operetta, and cabaret in the town of Central City, Colorado. Performances are staged in the Old Opera House, built in 1878 and since restored to its original Victorian elegance. On opening night, "flower girls" present the audience with fresh flowers, which are thrown on stage to the cast at the end of the performance. Inaugurated in 1932, the Opera Festival was not only the first summer opera festival in the country but also the first to espouse singing opera in English, a tradition that continues. More...

cul-de-sac - Literally French for "bottom of a sack," it also means "situation from which there is no escape"; it can be pluralized as cul-de-sacs or culs-de-sac. More...

gunny - From Sanskrit goni, "sack," it is the material used for sacks, made from jute or sunn-hemp. More...

haversack, knapsack, rucksack - Haversack is from German Haber, "oats," and Sack, "bag, sack"; knapsack is from German knapper, "to bite (food)" and zak, "sack"; rucksack comes from German Rucken, "back," and sack. More...

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